February 7th, 2010
A recent malware removal session gave a very frustrating error in trying to boot into safe mode. I was unable to boot into safe mode, safe mode with networking or even safe mode with the command prompt. The Stop Error was a Stop 0×0000007B Error. The instructions on the screen talk about running chkdsk on the drive (which I did.) There were a few things found and corrected, but the problem was still there. On investigation I went into the registry editor (regedit) and found that the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot registry key had been emasculated. There were two subkeys for minimal and network profiles…. So… I found a way to rebuild them.
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January 27th, 2010
Live Enterprise Suite is yet another rogue security application. This is a successor to the frustrating Internet Antivirus Pro and Ghost Antivirus rogues. Like many of these security rogues they are pushed through malware and aggressive advertising. This may be a website that when visited a screen pops up that appears to be doing a scan on your computer. However, everyone sees the same video when they visit the site, so you may see the same message whether you’re browsing with windows, apple mac or linux. Unfortunately, this trick is effective and many will click on the link they provide which installs the software on the local machine. Read on for how to remove live enterprise suite.
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January 26th, 2010
This article may come in handy if you are out there battling the latest rogue du jour. Occasionally I have been through a cleaning process for these rogues and got to a point where the scanner had run and cleaned things out (whether it was malwarebytes antimalware or superantispyware.) It was time to reboot and the system reboots, starts to load the desktop wallpaper and then…. You see the windows login screen and the words “saving settings” under the username followed by the words “logging out”. You may try again, but it doesn’t even load the desktop icons it just boots you back out to the login screen. If you try safe mode you may get the same behavior (it was in my case), administrator or the typical system user didn’t seem to make a difference. I couldn’t even get to safe mode with the command prompt. No choice but to reinstall right? Wrong….
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January 26th, 2010
APCSafe is another of the recent variations on the Wini family of rogue antivirus applications. Like all the others it is pushed by trojan activity… this is typically a video site that claims to have a sought after video, but alas…. the video cannot be viewed unless you install a flashplayer update that they have on the site, or a video codec. These of course, aren’t really what they are, they are the payload of this rogue antivirus. Once it is installed it will run at boot, scan files and complain of many viruses on your system as well as security problems with your computer. None of these can be fixed without paying for the software, so it claims. This is a scam, so please read on for how to remove apcsafe.
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January 25th, 2010
PCSecure is a recent rogue antivirus from the notorious and prolific wini family of rogue security software. It is typically promoted via trojan downloaders. Usually these will be on a website with a video that may be highly sought after. In order to see the video though you are told that you need to download a codec update or flash player update. This is where you get the infection that starts the nightmare of popups complaining of viruses on your system and multiple security problems on your pc. The real kicker is that they claim that the problems cannot be fixed unless you purchase their software. This is a scam and should be avoided. Read on for how to remove PCSecure.
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January 25th, 2010
Once upon a time I wrote of manually extracting a file from a mondorescue backup. Sometimes it’s just easier to do that, than have mondorescue go through 30 some cds or dvds just to find one file. (Not to mention the fact that the iso’s aren’t burned to disc but are just stored on a usb HD.) So, I’ve just had the opportunity to try to restore one of the “biggiefiles”. Mondoarchive attempts to split huge files up into smaller slices for archiving. The size is something that I think is configurable, but I haven’t made any changes from the default.
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January 25th, 2010
Desktop Security 2010 is a rogue antivirus application. It is a successor to Total PC Defender and installs on your pc without permission through the use of malware. Once on your system it will create numerous files that it then finds during scheduled scans and it claims these files are virus infected. It will scan at windows startup and claim these files and some legitimate files are infected with viruses and the only way it can clean them is if you purchase the software. If the files listed are removed it can damage your system. Obviously, this is a scam just to get your money, read on for how to remove desktop security 2010.
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January 24th, 2010
APCSecure is yet another rogue antivirus application from the prolific and annoying wini family of rogues. This particular variant also comes with a rootkit called TDL3. Trojans are used to promote this rogue antivirus and you will likely find that it will create multiple empty files on your computer that it will then find during scans and claim that they are all virus infected files. Like most all rogues it will also claim that your only hope to fix the security problems on your pc is to purchase their software. This is a scam, do not let them separate you from your hard earned money. Read on for how to remove apcsecure.
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January 24th, 2010
ProtectSoldier followed right on the heels of ProtectDefender as another entry of rogue antivirus software in the notorious and prolific wini family of rogues. Like all of them it is installed via trojan horses and pushed via flash player updates and video codec downloads. Once installed on a system it will create numerous files to scan and then later claim are virus infected. Further it will run each startup and scan your computer claiming multiple security problems with your pc. It is at this point that it will tell you that in order to fix all the problems on your computer you must purchase this software. This is a scam…. read on for how to remove protectsoldier.
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January 24th, 2010
ProtectDefender is yet another recent rogue antivirus application from the wini family. As with many of the other entrants from this family, it is installed through the use of bogus flash updates and purported video codec downloads. Typically a computer user will run across a site that claims to host a well sought after video and when they arrive at the page there is a claim that an extra video codec or flash player update in order to view the video. Once installed on the system it will create numerous files in c:\Windows and c:\windows\system32. These files are harmless, but it will later claim that these files are infected with viruses and other malware. It will also run at windows startup and claim that the only way to fix the problems on your system is to purchase the software. This is essentially a scam…. read on for how to remove protectdefender.
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